Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 476 Clues
Liu He was slightly surprised. It was truly commendable for a woman to consider the overall situation and be so tolerant towards the man who had just tried to humiliate her.

"Miss Wenji is magnanimous and kind-hearted, and I admire her. However, the country has its own laws and the army has its own discipline, so you don't have to worry about it. Now that the battle has been won, we will stay in the Xiongnu camp for one night and reunite tomorrow morning. I will send someone to escort the body of you and your husband back to Luoyang. After seeing your father, your father will accompany us to explain what happened here to the Wei family. I will also submit a memorial to the emperor to posthumously confer a title on your husband."

After Liu He said this, Cai Yan didn't say anything more.

Liu He looked at her expression, then looked into the distance.

"The girl is kind-hearted. I admire and appreciate her very much. This general's name is Wang Han, with the courtesy name Changheng. He is the cousin of a trusted soldier under He when he was the magistrate of Langtiao County. He suffered since childhood and was left with sequelae after falling ill, which is why he is like this. Later, I sent someone to find him with great difficulty and brought him to the army, but he caught up with the Yellow Turban Army's attack. He didn't have time to enjoy himself, but went to the enemy's camp to attack, causing chaos in the enemy's camp, so we were able to take advantage of the situation and defeat them."

"After that, he followed me on my campaigns for six years, and I don't know how many injuries he suffered. His cousin was also killed in the battle by the Xianbei-Hunnu coalition forces in Shuofang County. If we talk about punishing him, the person who would be most reluctant in the world is Liu. But Liu is very strict in his military discipline, and he must not be dismissed."

Cai Yan's expression was somewhat moved, and she bowed respectfully to Liu He.

"I have long heard that the general is strict in managing his troops and does not discriminate against relatives. Today, I have seen it and know that what he said is true."

"Miss, you are too kind. The battle here is over. Our army will take advantage of the Xiongnu camp to rest for one night and return to Shangjun early tomorrow morning. By then, I will send someone to take you back to Luoyang to meet your father."

"Thank you, General..."

Liu He looked up at the starry sky.

"Since the army of Zuo Xian Wang has met here, Gao Shun should be safe. The Qiang people are half pastoral and half agricultural people, unlike the Xianbei and Xiongnu, who live completely by the water and grass. Moreover, they have Ma Teng's assistance. He has lived in Xiliang for a long time and has dealt with the Qiang people for decades. I think fourth brother's side is also fine. I just don't know how the battle situation is on Yunchang's side. According to Yunchang's usual practice, this time he will definitely let Zhang Liao, Zhou Yuan, Qin Chu, Yan Quan and others divide their troops to search for the whereabouts of Kebineng's troops. Among these people, Zhang Liao is the youngest, but the most brave. I hope he can perform well and live up to the name of 'Stop the Night Crying Children in Jiangdong'."

Zhang Liao, who was far away on a grassland somewhere in the northeast of Yanmen County, suddenly sneezed three times in a row.

"General Zhang, did you catch a cold? The wind is strong on the grassland, you must take care of yourself. The success of our attack depends on you."

A soldier took a pot of hot water from the fire and handed it to Zhang Liao.

"Thank you for your concern, brother. I am in good health. I guess my new wife is worried about me, so she sneezed."

After entering Luoyang, Zhang Liao followed Guan Yu in training troops and patrolling around. He happened to see a woman washing clothes by a stream and fell in love with her. He immediately informed Guan Yu and Liu He about her and then went to propose marriage.

The girl was the daughter of an ordinary local family. She was sixteen years old at that time. Although her family was not poor, it was only slightly better off than Liu He's family when he was a child. Zhang Liao was already a general of the Yamen Army and Guan Yu's deputy general. In terms of his status in the army alone, he was comparable to Qian Ning, the commander of Guan Yu's personal guard camp, and half a level higher than Zhou Yuan and others.

When he came to propose marriage, the family was overjoyed. Not to mention being the legal wife, even being a concubine would be a blessing from their ancestors. Their marriage was also personally arranged by Liu He, and the people in the whole county were extremely envious.

The two had been married for only about four months, and were in their honeymoon period. When he said this, the soldiers around him began to tease him. Zhang Liao felt guilty and shy for a moment, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Okay, stop laughing. Eight days have passed since General Guan said he would leave within ten days, and we haven't even seen Ke Bineng's shadow yet. We are now nearly two hundred miles away from Pingcheng County, and it will take a day to get back. If we still can't find him tomorrow, we will have to return empty-handed."

Everyone's faces turned serious.

"Oh, I hope that the brothers who go out to look for clues this time can get some results."

As several people were thinking about this, they suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves in the distance.

Several soldiers looked up from afar, and when the man came closer, they recognized him.

"It's Yan Laoliu who's back..."

Everyone gathered around.

"How is it going? Can you find the main force of Ke Bineng?"

Everyone, including Zhang Liao, asked anxiously.

Unexpectedly, Yan Laoliu shook his head. Everyone's hopes that had just risen were dashed again in an instant.

Just as everyone was looking dejected and walking back with heavy steps to sit down again, Yan Laoliu said another sentence.

"But I found a group of Xianbei people..." Before he could finish his words, the soldiers who were walking back surrounded him again in almost the blink of an eye.

"Xianbei people? Where are they? How many of them are there? Could they be the soldiers of Kebi Neng?"

Zhang Liao also looked at him expectantly.

Yan Laoliu said, "There are only a hundred of them. They look tired and frail. They should be ordinary Xianbei people. They are about 17 or 18 miles northeast of here. I wanted to ask them, but then I realized that I don't speak Xianbei, so I came back to report to you, General Zhang."

"So they are just Xianbei people..."

The soldiers all sighed, looking disappointed.

Zhang Liao held his chin and began to think.

"We have searched the area over ten miles around here, and we didn't see any Xianbei people during the day. So, they must have hurried here."

Yan Laoliu nodded repeatedly: "That's right. When I saw them, they were setting up tents at the same place. It looked like they were going to rest for the night. I didn't know where they were going. But after checking the footprints on the grassland, I could tell that they were coming from the east."

Zhang Liao frowned slightly and stroked his beard, which was not yet considered a peasant's.

"Now is the season when the grass grows and the birds fly, and everything comes back to life. Look, as we walked along, the grasslands are full of life. It's the time for them to graze their livestock and let them reproduce. Why should we rush on the road all day and waste such a good opportunity?"

The people around also began to ponder.

"Yeah, why? There's no reason."

"General Zhang, what do you think they want to do?"

Zhang Liao seemed to suddenly think of something and clapped his hands.

"Ah, I know!"

The surrounding soldiers came over one after another.

"General, please tell me."

Zhang Liao said, "My lord has said many times that the Xianbei and Xiongnu have very strict hierarchies, and the lower class people live a more miserable life than the people of our great Han Dynasty, while the nobles are domineering and plundering everywhere. That's why after my lord defeated the two tribes and established the Hu Market in Bingzhou, hundreds of thousands of Hu people came to naturalize and surrender, because they believed that under the rule of our great Han Dynasty, their lives would be better than before."

"Well, what General Zhang said makes sense. The Lord has taught us this many times in the past."

Many soldiers agreed with this.

"That's it. I think this group of Xianbei people must be the same. They came from the east, and most likely they are the people of the Xianbei tribe under Kebi Neng. Now they want to escape from Kebi Neng's rule, and either surrender to the Han or go to join the other three Xianbei leaders."

"Ah, I see. General Zhang means that the Kebineng tribe must be to our east right now?"

"Yes, that is certainly the case!"

Zhang Liao suddenly stuffed the half-eaten Hu Bing in his hand into his mouth, and then gulped down a few mouthfuls of water.

"Brothers, victory or defeat, honor or disgrace, all depends on tonight. As long as we find Ke Bineng, it will be a great honor for our family, and we will be able to give honors to our wives and children. Follow me and fight!"

"I am willing to fight with General Zhang!"

"Okay! Put on armor for both the man and the horse, find Kebinen, and fight to the death!"

(End of this chapter)